Burning Bridges
by AngstyCanadianGleek
Summary: AU. The king and queen leave Elsa in charge of Anna for a night while they were away, the only thing she had to do was put her to bed. But when something goes wrong, Elsa is left at a complete loss for how to deal with it. Could this be a disaster or a chance to become closer than ever before? No pairings. Rated K First Frozen Fanfiction, so no flames, please.


Listening to Anna play out in the halls was the worst part of this whole thing. She wanted to go and play with her sister again but she was too scared she might reveal magic to her or hurt her again. Elsa didn't want to hurt Anna ever again but that didn't make it easier to be in her room while Anna was playing. She was allowed to play outside with her but she chose not to because she didn't trust her powers enough.

"Honey, are you listening? We'll be gone a few days and we just want you to make sure Anna goes to bed on time. The maids will take care of everything else," Mother informed her again. Elsa nodded. At 8-years-old, she was going to be in charge of Anna for the weekend. She worried but she had her gloves, so it should be fine.

"Okay," Elsa said. "I won't let you down."

She worried but she knew Anna always went to bed so easily, that it wouldn't be an issue to get the redhead to agree to go to sleep. As long as she had a glass of water, she was always fine. As much as Anna liked attention, she liked putting herself in bed to prove she was a 'big girl'. Elsa could tell this is why they weren't worried but she was still a little bit worried.

"We must be going now," Mother said, as she and Father disappeared down the hall.

Anna could hear the maid getting Anna into her sleep clothes, so all she would have to do is tell her to climb into bed. In fact, she could hear the maid talking to her about it

"Remember, your parents said to go to sleep when Elsa tells you too. No arguing."

"I'm this many years old," Anna said insulted as she held up her hand to show her age. "That's a _whole_ hand. I can put myself to ed because I'm mother and father's _big_ girl."

"I know you are, now, you're all ready. You may play until Elsa tells you its bed time and remember to go the bathroom before you go to bed; you don't want an accident."

"I'm not a baby! I don't pee the bed!" Anna cried, her face turning red at the thought. She was five years old! Wetting the bed was what _babies_ did. She hadn't wet the bed since she was three!

She heard the maid leave and went back to playing with her toys. She was building a castle for her dolls to play in. She looked at the doll house her parents bought and smiled widely. This was the doll house she was playing with until the one that looked just like their castle was ready to come home. Then, her dolls could live in a castle too and in the room that looked just like hers!

Anna heard the maids leave and smiled. Her parents would be so proud to see her playing and not causing trouble like the little lady she was. She couldn't wait for them to see how big and good she was. They were going to be so happy.

"I'm cold," she said through her doll, as she walked her doll into the living room. Anna smiled.

"I'll light the fire," she said through the other one and walked her to the fireplace and made a twitch with her hand. However, when she twitched her hand, _real_ , not pretend fire shot out of her hands. She dropped her flaming doll, and watched as fire shot from the palm of her hands.

"You're a big girl, Anna. Don't scream," she told herself in her best big girl voice. But as she tried to move her hands to make it go away, it just got bigger and bigger.

"Don't scream!" Anna told herself again, louder this time, her stomach swelling with panic and her mind was going wild and tears began falling down her face as she stared out her open door and down the hall, trying to figure out what to do. "Big girls don't scream!"

At least that's what she told herself until fire started pouring out of her other hand and her panic made it so she could hardly breath. When she opened her mouth to tell herself not to scream, she screamed and louder then she'd ever screamed in her life.

* * *

Elsa enjoyed the evenings, she could sit back and read while she listened to Anna play with her toys. Today, it sounded like Anna was playing with her dolls. She laughed as she heard her telling her doll to go to bed quietly like a big girl and get cookies from Father.

She chuckled when she heard Anna mention lighting the fire. Anna was always very thorough when she played dolls. She made them wash their hands, make their beds and wear proper boots when walking. It was always entertaining to hear her tell her dolls that if they didn't wash their hands they would get sick and how the dolls would argue back.

For a few seconds there was silence. After several seconds, she still heard nothing; maybe Anna got tired and went to bed without being told? That had never happened before but maybe she was really tired.

After several more seconds passed, she could hear something hit the floor, followed by hushed whispers but unlike her usual tone, these whispers sounded a little bit panicked.

"Big girls don't scream!"

Elsa frowned, feeling a sense on dread growing in her belly when she heard those words. After several seconds passed, she sighed a breath of fresh air when she heard nothing else. Her hands, which she hadn't realized were cooling, started to warm up again. She flipped her book open and was trying to find the spot she'd left off before she heard her sister let out a blood curdling scream.

Anna didn't scream! Elsa had never heard the girl scream nor had she even cried since she was just a mere baby but this scream was the loudest, most terrified scream she'd ever heard in her life and she felt her stomach clench with dread and panic as she ran out her door to see what was happening.

Another scream, followed by cried for help got her running faster than she'd ever run in her life. That was another thing Anna never did; Ana never asked for help. Since she was old enough to talk it was always "I got it" or "I can do it." But this was different, Elsa could hear the fear pouring from her little sisters words and she turned to look in Anna's open door, she couldn't help but freeze with panic at the site before her.

The scene before her was terrifying and the look on her sisters face would remain in her mind for a very long time. Anna's face was a mask of horror, confusion and panic as she tried to get the _fire_ off of her hand. As soon as she spotted Elsa standing there, her eyes widened but she continued to run around frantically. Oddly enough, Anna sounded utterly petrified but she didn't sound like she was in any _pain_.

"Elsa! Help! I can't make it stop! It won't stop! ELSA!" Anna screamed irrationally, tears pouring down her face faster as her words became more hysterical with every word.

"How did this happen?" Elsa asked, stepping close enough to see the flames shooting from her sister's tiny hands.

"I don't know! I wanted to heat my doll house with _pretend_ fire and my hands caught fire for _real_! HELP!" Anna cried, now running around the room again, flailing her arms around and making the flames bigger.

"Anna, calm down! You need water to put out fire!" Elsa said, pointing across the hall to the bathroom. She could not begin to express how happy she was to be one of three houses in the country to have indoor plumbing.

Anna ran out the door, leaving a trail of fire in her wake but this let Elsa use her icy blast to put them out. She had just put out the flames on Anna's doll before she smelt something horrible followed by her sister crying "oh no!"

Elsa ran into the bathroom to see Anna's hands were still on fire but the faucets were now smoking and on closer inspection, Elsa could see they were also _melted_.

Anna looked frantically around the room, now what! The water faucets had melted in her hands and she couldn't turn the water on. Finally, her eyes landed on a water source! Yes!

Anna fell to her knees in front of the toilet and shoved them into the ice cold water but it only stayed cold for a few seconds before the water started boiling but oddly enough, just like the fire, this didn't hurt; in fact, she had barely felt the flames at all and what she did feel was warm and nice. But, the fire hand burnt her doll and her doll house was on fire. Wasn't fire supposed to hurt.

Elsa stood watching her sister as she held her hands in the now boiling toilet water with wide eyes. Sensing no immediate threat besides the fact that Anna was elbow deep in boiling water, she cleared her throat.

"Let me see your hands," Elsa said, ready to run to the castle doctor down the road for the burns on her sisters hands. But when Anna held up heard hands for Elsa to see, there was nothing; her hands weren't even red.

"What were you doing?" Elsa asked, her head now light as she tried to figure this out.

"I took my doll to light a pretend fire but them my hands decided they wanted to make _real_ fire!" Anna threw her hands up in the air and Elsa could only watch stunned motionless when fire began shooting out of her sisters hands. Elsa jumped and her sister's face went wide with fear as she stared at her for answers she didn't have.

Once again, Anna's hands were plunged into the toilet and big tears began pouring down her face.

"What's happening to me, Elsa!"

Elsa tried to speak but her mouth wasn't forming words but probably because her brain didn't know the words she wanted to say. She remembered when she'd gotten her powers when she was four but she couldn't remember what anyone had said to her but it hadn't been as terrifying as this was becoming.

Suddenly, the small redhead threw her arms around Elsa and began sobbing into her dress. Forgetting all about her powers, she rubbed her sister's back.

After a few minutes, Anna sat down on the cool bathroom floor, shaking too much to stand anymore. Her hands hit the tile floor and the sizzling and smoke that ruptured from the spot made Anna stand up with a small cry. But Elsa couldn't help but stare at the dark, hand shaped mark now burnt into the bathroom floor.

"Elsa! What's happening to me?" Anna cried, sounding so broken and afraid.

"Anna," Elsa said stepping closer but Anna glanced to to floor and jerked back in a motion that was familiar but completely heart breaking to see her sister so terrified to be touched but she understood as well. Soon enough, more fire began flying from her hands and Elsa ducked just in time to miss one of the streams of fire. Hands once again in the toilet, Anna began sobbing louder.

"Why is this happening? Why won't it stop? Am I a monster?" Anna asked, causing Elsa to make a spur of the moment decision. She lifted her hand and formed an snow ball in her hand along with a bit of snow. Anna watched with wide, red eyes as she began rubbing her face but only to jump when she realized she had touched her face.

"Did my face get burnt?" Anna said, her voice trembling.

"No, you're fine," Elsa assured her, pretty sure she couldn't really be burnt by anything. She didn't know for sure but she knew cold and hot things didn't hurt her but she didn't want to tell Anna that in case it wasn't the case with her.

"I'm in trouble," Anna said sadly.

"Why are you in trouble?"

"I was a bad girl. I set fire to my room and burnt the floor and made the toilet boil," Anna said, looking deeply at her hands as though trying to find the source of the fire.

"It was an accident," Elsa assured.

"And now the toilet is droopy," Anna said, causing Elsa to realize that if Anna stuck her hands in there one more time, it was going to melt completely.

"That's not you fault either," Elsa said sternly.

When fire shot out of her sisters hand again, she blew some cold air at it and the snow flakes and icy air put out the flames in a matter of seconds. Elsa watched amazed as the snowflakes sizzled and melted instantly.

"Anna, poke my hand," Elsa said, holding her hand out for her sister to poke. This way, she'd know for sure if for sister had the same temperature resistance so she wouldn't have to dip her hands in the toilet anymore.

Anna stared at Elsa with wide scrared eyes as she put her hands behind her back.

"I'll hurt you," Anna said crying.

"That's why you're just poking me, to see if we get hurt," Elsa said. After a few seconds, Anna brought her hand slowly from behind her back and placed a finger on Elsa's palm.

"Now, shake my hand," Elsa said, realising her sister was completely unaffected by her icy cold hands and she, of course, wasn't bothered by her fiery hot hands. Elsa knew she was right but her sister didn't seem as confident about this.

"Trust me, Anna. It'll be fine," Elsa said, still holding her hand out. Anna took a shaky breath before she rested her trembling hand into Elsa's palm. Elsa smiled and pulled Anna to her feet before glancing at the clock.

"You were supposed to be in bed an hour ago," Elsa said in a joking tone as she rubbed a circle on the back of Anna's hand to calm her down.

Anna looked at Elsa with wide, nervous eyes before she looked to the ground.

"Will you read me a story?"

Elsa smiled and guided Anna to her room but when Anna touched her blankets, fire burst out. Elsa, who was prepared for this possibility smothered it with a blast of snow causing Anna to let out a shaky giggle.

"Do you want to sleep with me tonight?" Elsa asked, guiding her sister down to her room, relieved that she'd agreed to come because she didn't think she'd sleep well leaving Anna alone with this new power and Anna's bed wasn't big enough for the two of them.

"Won't I set your room on fire?" Anna asked too worried to be excited that this was the first time she'd enter her sisters room in a long time.

"Trust me, I have a plan," Elsa said picking up her pair of gloves and putting them on Anna's hands. Anna stared at them glad they hadn't burst into flames but confused about why she had them on her hands.

"Touch something," Elsa said, honestly unsure whether or not the gloves would work on her or if the trolls had designed them special for her powers alone. Ana picked up a pillow and immediately began hugging it.

"Your pillow isn't of fire!" Anna squealed happily.

Elsa smiled at her sister and wished she could let her keep the gloves but it was clear they didn't fit her tiny hands right. She was going to have to watch her hands throughout the night to make sure they didn't come off. That was going to have to work until their parents came home tomorrow. Hopefully they'd have a solution.


End file.
